Hua Niao – The Concept

Chinese bird and flower painting, known as Hua Niao, is a type of painting named for its subjects covering flowers, birds, insects, and fish. Artists are free to understand flowers as plants and include pets in their artwork.

The history

Hua Niao painting existed since quite early Chinese times. He adorned bronze vessels, ceramics, and phoenix artwork on silk, during the Warring States Period (7th-4th century BCE). The depicted images confirm that ancient Chinese flowers and birds were the favorite subjects of Hua Niao artists. Initially plain and simple, this style of Chinese painting eventually developed into a mature and significant art form, with the help of developed schools, well-established techniques and theoretical background. Hua Niao’s works became an absolute study of art during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), growing until the end of the Five Dynasties Period (907-60).

The details

In the pre-Tang and Tang dynasties, the emotions, moods, feelings, and temperament of human figures were the identifying characteristics of bird and flower painting. The characters rarely looked at each other. The ‘flowers’ they held, the ‘trees’ they sat near, or the ‘birds’ that flew around them, would symbolize the relationship between them. This symbolic representation of human feelings was a major turning point in the history of Chinese art. Hua Niao soon became an independent fine art form during the middle and late Tang dynasty.

the varieties

– Ink and Gouache Painting

– Paint with a fine brush

– Fine Brush with Ink and Gouache Paint

– Fine brush with intense color

– Fine Brush with Light Color

– Fine brush with freehand style

– Freehand style

– Great freehand style

– Slight freehand style

The artists, the artists

Many famous artists arose during 618-960, with Huang Quan and Xu Xi being representative names among them. Quan Huang was a court painter and his paintings focused on rare court flowers and birds. The depictions of him were lively and looked luxurious and full-blown gorgeous. ‘Sketch of Rare Bird Scroll’, which portrays many kinds of birds, was Huang’s masterpiece.

The artist Xu Xi also belonged to the same dynasties and did not participate in any kind of politics. Xu used ink for his artwork. Broad strokes, wild themes, and branches and leaves were some of the key features of his paintings. Xu would use a small number of colors to avoid any damage to the ink. ‘Snow Covers Bamboo’ was one of Xu Xi’s unique works.